With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. We're kicking off the series by honoring the youngest skiers of the bunch with Junior of the Year, awarded to one outstanding male and one female in the U.S. and/or Canada.
On the closing day of 2015 IBU World Championships, Ukraine's Valj Semerenko became an individual world champion in the women's mass start, beating Germany's Franziska Preuss by 6.2 seconds with perfect shooting. American Susan Dunklee finished 20th with five penalties and Canada's Megan Heinicke shot 19-for-20 to place 24th.
While Slovenia's Jakov Fak outlasted Ondrej Moravec of the Czech Republic and two Norwegians, Tarjei Bø and Ole Einar Bjørndalen, on the last lap to win the mass start at IBU World Championships, four North Americans put down races they were proud of: with Lowell Bailey in 13th, Tim Burke in 14th, Brendan Green in 21st, and Nathan Smith in 23rd.
Simon Schempp and three teammates combined for Germany's second gold in the last two days of relays at 2015 IBU World Championships, topping Norway and France, respectively. The U.S. got off to a strong start with Lowell Bailey, but finished 14th with two penalties. The Canadians had two penalties as well and ended up 19th.
Germany's Vanessa Hinz relied on fast skiing and precise shooting to give her team a 30-second lead heading into the last leg of Friday's 4 x 6 k relay at IBU World Championships, and teammate Laura Dahlmeier ran away with it to win by more than a minute. Canada achieved its top-10 team goal, and the U.S. matched its season best in 12th.
The podium-surprise streak at IBU World Championships ended on Thursday, with regulars Martin Fourcade, Emil Hegle Svendsen and Ondrej Moravec taking gold, silver and bronze in the men's 20 k individual, respectively. Canada's Brendan Green placed 21st to lead the North Americans, and three U.S. men placed in the top 33.
Leave it to dads to predict medal potential. Ekaterina Yurlova's father did just that, one month before the Russian won gold at IBU World Championships in the women's 15 k on Wednesday. Susan Dunklee placed 12th with her best shooting in an individual race in the last week, and Megan Heinicke tallied her third-straight top 30 in Kontiolahti.
German biathlete Erik Lesser earned his first victory in Sunday's 12.5 k pursuit at the 2015 IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. Canadian Nathan Smith was the top North American in 13th after placing second in Saturday's 10 k sprint.
France's Marie Dorin Habert was essentially speechless in a post-race press conference after winning her second gold in as many days at IBU World Championships, and her third medal of the week. American Susan Dunklee skied the third-fastest course time, shooting excluded, and Canada's Rosanna Crawford and Megan Heinicke finished in the top 30.
Nathan Smith had the confidence he needed for Saturday's sprint on the first day of individual racing at 2015 IBU World Championships, even if the soft-spoken Canadian didn't show it. "I knew if I had an average day ... that it could be really good," Smith said. What he didn't expect was silver, Canada's first-ever medal for a male at World Championships.
Two misses wasn't so bad for Tim Burke, who relied on what he considered solid shooting to finish 15th on Saturday for his best sprint result since December. Lowell Bailey was close behind in 17th, and all four U.S. men made the top 60 for Sunday's pursuit.
The world's best biathletes battled blowing snow and variable conditions in the women's 7.5 k sprint at the 2015 IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. In the end it was France's Marie Dorin Habert who walked away with the victory while Canada's Megan Heinicke was the first North American in 23rd.
"Slushfest" was the word that best described the opening race of the 2015 IBU World Championships. Despite the challenging conditions, both the U.S. and Canadian mixed relays skied and shot their way to match their best World Championships results, with eighth- and 12th-place finishes, respectively.
The Czech Republic handled the soft-and-slushy conditions on the first day of 2015 IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland, better than any other team in the mixed relay, winning gold by a comfortable margin ahead of France and defending Olympic champs Norway.
With another World Cup crystal globe in hand, Finnish biathlete Kaisa Mäkäräinen, 31, is gearing up for another season and World Championships at home in Kontiolahti. It hasn't been easy: she was sick for two months from May through June.
The U.S. Biathlon Women's A-team has been spending the last two weeks soaking up Finnish life and studying the 2015 IBU World Championships course in Kontiolahti with reigning World Cup champion (and local hero) Kaisa Mäkäräinen.